Introduction:

Review the water cycle with your students. Evaporation: water molecules absorb the sun's heat and turn into water vapor. The vapor rises. Condensation: Water vapor collects and turns to droplets. Clouds are formed as more and more water is absorbed. The clouds become heavy and begin to grow dark and ready to rain. Precipitation: The heavy rain clouds release the water droplets. It is raining. Accumulation: The rain that has fallen to earth collects into rivers, lakes, and the ocean.

Materials:

Kid Pix Weather Activities CD ROM, computer and printer

Procedure:

Have the students to pretend that they are a raindrop. 
Allow them to make a slide show adventure using the weather backgrounds and animations that are provided in Kid Pix Weather CD ROM. 
Break students into groups.
Have them brainstorm content of adventure.
Each group should have a writer for first draft, then they all edit and write.
Use Slide Show Storyboard for planning.
Each presentation should display their lives starting out on land and then evaporating up to the clouds.

Home Learning:

Have the student to choose a day of the week and do a weather report using their local new paper. See example below:

Evaluation:

Let the students to share their slide shows with the class.

Extension: Water Cycle

• Review the sequence of events of the water cycle
• Visit Biomes of the World to learn more about the water cycle 
• Click on Water Cycle
• Question: What are the parts of the water cycle?
• Answer: precipitation (rain), evaporation (to change from a solid into a vapor), and transpiration (when something gives off moisture through the surface of leaves and plants)
• Students will complete a Water Cycle Flow Chart

Field Trip:

Arrange a field trip to your local weather station.

Book Resources:

• The Magic School Bus "Wet All Over."  A book About the Water Cycle © 1996
• The Water Cycle by David Smith/Illustrations by John Yates © 1993
• Science In Our World "Water" Time Set II © 1991
• Weather Watch-Rain: Causes and Effects by Philip Stelle © 1991
• Science Activities: Water by Graham Peacock © 1994